Exhibitions

All or None: Garment Workers’ Union Banners from the Permanent Collection

January 20 - April 22

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Through a collection of rare banners from WAHC’s permanent collection, All or None traces the history and material culture of garment worker organizing in Eastern Canada.

The structure and strength of textile has long been seen as a metaphor for community and care. All or None explores the iconography and production of these exquisite banners as vehicles of communication, celebration, affiliation, and resistance. This exhibition highlights the undeniable beauty of the banners while sharing the stories of garment workers’ unions such as the ILGWU, ACTWU, and UNITE!, and the workers– primarily immigrant women– who fueled garment manufacturing in Canada and beyond. Presented in conversation with these historic artifacts, the work of contemporary artist Kandis Friesen explores cloth’s potential to serve as both a poetic and political text, and as a vehicle of collective vocality.

Join us for the public opening reception of All or None on Friday, February 10th, 2017 from 7-10 pm.

Join us for an exciting slate of Winter programming in support of All or None, including a youth art workshop with Kandis Friesen, Telling Textiles PA Day camp with Hitoko Okada, and an exhibition and walking tour, The Fabric of the City, presented in partnership with the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Keep an eye on our website, Facebook and Twitter pages for more information.

About Kandis Friesen:

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, Kandis Friesen is an artist and cultural worker based in Montréal. Her interdisciplinary practice looks at ethno/nationalisms and audio-visual culture, diasporic language and translation, and the role of document and archive in constructions of public memory and public space. Her work has been shown both locally and internationally at various galleries and festivals, and she has been the recipient of grants from both the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. She is currently living in Chicago, USA, pursuing an MFA in the Art, Theory, Practice program at Northwestern University.

WAHC wishes to acknowledge its operating funders, union supporters and volunteers for their support of this exhibition. This exhibition is presented in partnership with Hamilton Winterfest 2017.